Bobbin seater and spacer attachment for use in a textile yarn processing machine



May 5, 1970 'r. T. FLOWERS BOBBIN SEATER AND SPACER ATTACHMENT FOR USEIN A TEXTILE YARN PROCESSING MACHINE Filed May 13, 1968 INVENTOR; THAD TF LOWE-R5 BYMM 3 1%, M

ATTORNEYS United States Patent BOBBIN SEATER AND SPACER ATTACHMENT FORUSE IN A TEXTILE YARN PROCESSING MACHINE Thad T. Flowers, Fort Mill,S.C., assignor to Springs Mills, Inc., a corporation of South CarolinaFiled May 13, 1968, Ser. No. 728,419 Int. Cl. B65l1 75/30 US. Cl.24246.21 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A bobbin seater and spacerattachment adapted to be used in a textile yarn processing machine, suchas a spinning frame or the like, having a rotatable spindle and a hollowbobbin reecived on and driven by the spindle. The bobbin seater andspacer attachment is adapted to be positioned at the base or acorn ofthe spindle and comprises means for positioning the bobbin upwardly fromthe base of the spindle for a loose fitting association therewith forease in doffing and means for magnetically seating the bobbin to preventlongitudinal and vertical movement thereof with respect to the spindleduring rotation thereof and to aid in driving the bobbin throughrotation of the spindle.

This invention relates to a bobbin seater and spacer attachment for usein a yarn processing machine, such as a spinning frame or the like, forpositioning a bobbin upwardly from the base of a spindle for a loosefitting association therewith for ease in dofiing and for magneticallyseating the bobbin to prevent longitudinal and vertical movement thereofwith respect to the spindle during rotation thereof and to aid indriving the bobbin through rotation of the spindle.

In textile yarn processing machines, such as spinning frames or thelike, it is conventional to utilize rotatable spindle assemblies eachhaving a driven, elongate, tapered, vertically extending, generallycylindrical spindle including an integral whorl on the lower portionthereof and a hollow, tapered, open-ended, generally cylindrical bobbinwith a steel ferrule at the bottom received on and driven by thespindle. Due to the tapered nature of the spindle and the tapered borein the bobbin, it is customary to place the bobbin on the spindle insuch a manner that a forced friction fit is formed at the upper end ofthe spindle between the outer surface of the spindle and the interiorsurface of the bore of the hollow bobbin. Due to this friction fit, thebobbin rotates with the spindle during rotation of the spindle forreceiving a yarn being processed on the spinning frame or the like.

In recent times and due to the time consumption and labor requirementfor doffing a bobbin from the spindle, the textile industry has beenleaning toward automatic doffing equipment which utilizes apparatus toengage the upper end of a full bobbin and lift it vertically off thespindle for doffing same. However, due to the forced friction fitbetween the bobbin and the upper end of the spindle, problems havearisen with respect to the use of this automatic doffing equipment.

Heretofore and less conventionally, some bobbins have Patented May 5,1970 been constructed which provide a reamed out or otherwise formedlaterally extending seat on the inside surface of the bobbin bore nearthe top of the bobbin which is adapted to seat the bobbin in a loosefitting relationship on the top curved surface of a conventionalspindle. With the use of this seat at the top of the bobbin, the forcedfriction fit between the bobbin and spindle is eliminated and,therefore, will provide ease in dofiing. With the use of this type ofbobbin, a drive between the spindle and the bobbin is provided by anintermittent engagement between the spindle and the bobbin due to normalvibration of the spindle during rotation slightly off a truelongitudinal axis. However, problems of longitudinal or upward verticalmovement due to centrifugal force, etc., have been experienced duringrotation of this non-friction fitting bobbin on the spindle.

It is the object of this invention to overcome the above problems, bothwith the type of bobbin which customarily has a forced friction fit withthe spindle and encounters difficulties in automatic dofiing and withthe non-friction fitting bobbin having a laterally extending seat at thetop of the internal bore and encounters the problems of upwardlongitudinal movement during rotation of the bobbin on the spindle.

It has been found by this invention that this object may be accomplishedby providing a bobbin seater and spacer attachment adapted to bepositioned at the base or acorn of the spindle and comprising means forpositioning the bobbin upwardly from the base of the spindle and meansfor magnetically seating the bobbin on the spindle.

This bobbin seater and spacer attachment may be used with either of theabove-described types of bobbins. If used with the more conventionalfriction fitting bobbin, it

will provide the dual function of both spacing this bobbin ing thebobbin through rotation of the spindle. Ifused with the lessconventional non-friction fitting bobbin having a laterally extendingseat near the upper end of the internal bore, this attachment willovercome the problems of longitudinal upward movement of the bobbinduring rotation and aid in driving the bobbin through rotation of thespindle by magnetically seating the bobbin on the spindle.

Some of the objects and advantages of the invention having been stated,other objects and advantages will appear as the description proceeds,when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: I

FIG. 1 is an elevational view, parts of which are broken away, of aspindle and bobbin assembly as used in a conventional yarn processingmachine with the seater and spacer attachment of this invention thereon;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view, broken away,

of the base portion of the bobbin utilized in the assembly of FIG. 1;and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view, broken away,

of the bobbin seater and spacer attachment of this inven-.

tion.

Referring now to the drawings, there is illustrated in FIG. 1 aconventional spindle assembly, generally indicated by the referencenumeral 10, for a textile yarn 3 processing machine, such as a spinningframe or the like. This spindle assembly comprises a driven, rotatable,elongate, tapered, generally cylindrical spindle 11, a whorl 12integrally fixed to the lower end or base portion of the spindle 11, anda bolster assembly 13 rotatably carrying the spindle 11 and whorl 12 ina conventional manner.

Referring also to FIG. 1, there is shown a hollow, tapered, open-ended,generally cylindrical bobbin 20 adapted to be received on and driven bythe spindle 11. This bobbin 20 conventionally includes a lower metallicferrule 21 on the bottom thereof.

In the normal operation of this spindle and bobbin assembly in a textileyarn processing machine, the bobbin is rotated and driven by the spindlefor receiving yarn being spun or otherwise processed.

In accordance with the present invention, the abovedescribed spindle andbobbin assembly is provided with a bobbin seater and spacer attachment,generally indicated by the reference numeral 30. This attachment 30 isadapted to be positioned at the base or acorn of the spindle 11 adjacentthe whorl 12, as shown in FIG. 1, for positioning the bobbin 20 upwardlyfrom the whorl 12 of the spindle 11 for a non-friction fittingassociation with the spindle 11 for ease in dofiing and for magneticallyseating the bobbin 20 to prevent longitudinal movement thereof withrespect to the spindle during rotation thereof and to aid in driving thebobbin through rotation of the spindle.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3, the bobbin seater and spacer attachment30 comprises an open-ended, hollow ring 31 having an internal bore 32 ofdesired dimensions to provide a friction fit between the ring 31 and thebase of the spindle so that the ring 31 will be driven by and rotatewith the spindle 11. The ring 31 also has a sufficient width from thetop surface to the bottom surface and sufficient thickness from theinside surface to the outside surface, as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 3, toprevent positioning of the bobbin as far down on the spindle as wouldnormally occur when a forced friction fit is obtained between the bobbin20 and the spindle 11 and thereby space the bobbin 20 upwardly from thebase of the spindle 11 a suflicient distance to prevent a forcedfriction fit between the bobbin 20 and the spindle 11 at the top portionof the spindle. As may be seen in FIG. 1, a slight clearance is providedbetween the top outside surface of the spindle 11 and the inside surfaceof the bobbin 20.

This spacing between the outside surface of the spindle 11 and theinside bore surface of the bobbin 20 should be just enough to prevent aforced friction fit, but be small enough to allow the outside surface ofthe spindle to engage the inside surface of the bobbin during rotationof the spindle, which usually is slightly off-center due to normalvibrations, to enable the bobbin to rotate with and be driven by thespindle.

The bobbin seater and spacer attachment 30 also includes a depression,indicated at 33, on the upper surface thereof of sufficient size toreceive the lower metallic end or ferrule 21 of the bobbin 20, asindicated in FIG. 1. Spaced along the upper surface of the depression 33in the ring 31 is one or more permanent magnets 34 adapted to engage andmagnetically hold the bobbin 20 through magnetic attraction between thepermanent magnets 34 and the metallic ferrule 21 for seating the bobbin20 on the spindle 11 to prevent upward longitudinal movement of thebobbin 20 during rotation thereof with the spindle 11 and to aid indriving the bobbin 20 with the spindle 11.

The ring 31 may be constructed of any suitable material, such asplastic, metal, etc. The permanent magnets 34 may be any conventionaltype having sufficient magnetic strength to seat the bobbin 20 andprevent upward longitudinal movement thereof during rotation on thespindle and to aid in driving or rotating the bobbin 20 with the spindle11, but allowing a relatively easy disengagement between the metallicferrule 21 and the magnets 34 during automatic doffing of the bobbin.

In the drawings and specification, there has been set forth a preferredembodiment of this invention and although specific terms are employed,they are used in a descriptive sense only and not for purposes oflimitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a bobbin and spindle assembly for rotating to effect winding orother processing of yarn on the bobbin; the combination of a driven,rotating, elongate spindle;

a bobbin positioned on said spindle in non-friction fitting associationtherewith for ease in dofling and being in sufficiently close fittingassociation therewith to be driven by said spindle through engagementbetween said spindle and said bobbin caused by vibrations of saidspindle during rotation; and

permanent magnet means positioned around one end of said spindle formagnetically seating said bobbin on said spindle to prevent longitudinalmovement thereof with respect to said spindle during rotation and whichpermits easy breaking of the magnetic seating and thereby easy doffingof said bobbin fro said spindle.

2. A bobbin seater and spacer attachment for use in a textile yarnprocessing machine, such as a spinning frame or the like, having arotatable spindle and a hollow bobbin received on and driven by thespindle; said bobbin seater and spacer attachment having magnetic meansfor magnetically seating the bobbin and adapted to be positioned at oneportion of the spindle and comprising an open-ended, hollow ring meansadapted to frictionally fit around the one end of the spindle to rotatetherewith and having suflicient width and thickness to space the bobbinfrom the one end of the spindle a suflicient distance to prevent aforced friction engagement between the bobbin and the spindle at theother end of the spindle.

3. A bobbin seater and spacer attachment, as set forth in claim 2, inwhich said bobbin includes a metallic end and said magnetic meanscomprises at least one permanent magnet on one surface of said ring formagnetically holding the metallic end of the bobbin for nonfrictionseating of the bobbin on the spindle.

4. In a textile yarn processing machine, such as a spinning frame or thelike; the combination of:

a driven, rotatable, elongate, tapered, generally cylindrical spindleincluding an integral whorl on one end thereof;

a hollow, tapered, open-ended, generally cylindrical bobbin received onand driven by said spindle; and

a bobbin seater and spacer attachment secured to the end of said spindleadjacent said whorl and comprising an open-ended, hollow ring means forfrictionally fitting around the end of said spindle adjacent said whorlto rotate therewith and having suflicient width and thickness to spacesaid bobbin upwardly from the base of said spindle by a sufficientdistance to prevent a forced friction engagement between said bobbin andsaid spindle at the other end of said spindle; and

means carried by said ring means for magnetically seating said bobbinthereon to prevent longitudinal movement thereof with respect to saidspindle during rotation thereof so that said bobbin will be driven bysaid spindle.

5. In a textile yarn processing machine, the combination as set forth inclaim 4, in which said bobbin includes a metallic ferrule on one endthereof and in which said attachment further comprises at least onepermanent magnet on one surface of said ring means for magneticallyholding said bobbin through magnetic attraction with said metallicferrule for non-friction seat- 2,561,155 ing of said bobbin on saidspindle. 2,575,776 2,668,020 References Cited 3,101,911 UNITED STATESPATENTS 5 4/1907 Hawes 24246.5 945,322 6/1907 Hughes 242-465 6/1908Smith 242-465 6/1911 Seeley 242-46.6 X 8/1917 Miller 24246.21 10 2/ 1922Chapman 242-46.6 24246.4

6 7/1951 Thomas et a1. 24246.21 11/ 1951 White 24246.5 2/ 1954 Dunlap242-46.2 8/1963 Carroll et a1 242-46.6

FOREIGN PATENTS 7/ 1956 Germany.

STANLEY N. GILREATI-I, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3, 079Dated y 1 Inventor(s) Thad wers It is certified that error appears inthe above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are herebycorrected as shown below:

Column 4, line 33, "portion" should be end--.

SIGNED IND SEALED swam (SEAL) Atteat:

Edwardltflemhml mm 1:. JR. testing ()ffi Gomissionmof Patents U S.GDVIINIINT PIINYNG OPTIC! Y I'll O-lIO-JJA

